Thursday, October 25, 2012

China's 'old buddy' diplomacy dies a death

Oct 25, 2012 By Jian Junbo
SHANGHAI - On October 17, China's national
flag was flown at half-mast in Tiananmen Square,
the foreign ministry and Beijing's Capital
International Airport for a foreigner - the former
king of Cambodia, Norodom Sihanouk who died in the
Chinese capital city two days earlier.

This was the first time China had hung its
national flag at half-mast to mourn the death of a
foreign VIP in 18 years, the last occasion being
on the death in 1994 of North Korean leader Kim
Il-sung, former North Korean leader who died in
1994.

The death of Sihanouk and Beijing's
move to show its condolences refreshed many
Chinese people's memory of the history of
Sino-Cambodia relations in the 1950s-1970s and led them to look at China's
relations today with its small neighbors in the
Indochina Peninsula.

For Chinese leaders,
this event at least presents a chance for them to
extend their friendship and tenderness, as a part
of the country's diplomatic tradition, to the
former Cambodian king and his family and his
people.

Before Sihanouk passed away, some
senior Chinese officials visited this "old friend
of China"; after his death, President Hu Jintao
attended a condolence ceremony and Premier Wen
Jiabao paid homage to his residence in Beijing.
Then Dai Bingguo, the State Councilor overseeing
diplomatic affairs, on behalf of the Chinese
government, accompanied the Cambodian Queen
Mother, the country's present king, Norodom
Sihamoni, and Prime Minister Hun Sen to escort
Sihanouk's coffin back to Phnom Penh on October
17.

"Sihanouk was a great friend of the
Chinese people. He made an indelible contribution
to creating and culturing China-Cambodia
friendship. His death is a great loss for the two
countries", commented a spokesman of China's
Foreign Ministry. In his condolence message to
Sihanouk's families, President Hu also said His
Majesty Sihanouk was a great friend of the Chinese
people, and he had established a profound
friendship with all generations of Chinese
leaders.

The concern and attention Beijing
showed toward a dead man who in his lifetime
didn't have real power in Cambodia's domestic
politics arises from the inertia of the diplomatic
tradition of the People's Republic of China (PRC)
- so-called "old buddy" diplomacy that attaches
great importance to contributions by friendly
foreigners especially politicians and statesmen to
China's foreign relations, especially in the
1950s-1990s.

Among those "old
foreign friends", the largest number come from
Japan (111), Americans are next, followed by the
British, French and German. Some "old buddies" are
from small countries like Sihanouk.

Some
"old buddy" foreigners who were not politicians
include Edgar Snow (an American sympathizer of
China's communist revolution and author of Red
Star Over China) and Joseph Needham (British
historian).

Any foreigner who is
considered by Chinese leaders as an "old buddy"
could be given considerate diplomatic courtesy
from Beijing, for instance, he or she could have
the chance to dine with China's leaders, or get
birthday greetings from a Chinese representative.

The "old buddy" diplomacy shows China's
foreign relations formerly, and perhaps still,
somehow rely on the personal ties of Chinese
leaders with certain foreigners who are friendly
or sympathetic to China and help China to extend
its foreign relations.

This implies that
the PRC's diplomacy, influenced by ancient Chinese
tradition, has for a long time emphasized
ideology, morality and personal friendship more
than economic interests which, by contrast, are
almost invariably stressed by Western countries in
their foreign relations.

Chinese people
used to shy away from explicitly talking about
economic interests, thanks to Confucius' teaching
that "The man of honor seeks righteousness, while
the man of disgrace cares only about profit".

Needless to say, after 30 years of reform
and opening up, China's diplomacy is also
changing, some would argue increasingly
sophisticated, putting national and economic
interests above other considerations in developing
foreign relations.

As Sihanouk was
regarded as a great "old buddy", he was naturally
given due respect after his death. But behind the
nostalgia of old friendship, Beijing certainly
also has practical considerations. As near
neighbor to China and a member country of the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN),
Sihanouk's motherland Cambodia is an important
country for China to maintain friendship as it
develops its economic and geopolitical interests
in Southeast Asia.

In 2006, the two
countries built a "comprehensive cooperative
partnership", and in 2010, this was upgraded to
"comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership".
Now China is the biggest foreign investor in
Cambodia.

Chinese investment in Cambodia
is twice that of other countries in the 10-member
ASEAN, and 10 times that of the United States.
Some 70% of garment companies operating in
Cambodia are Chinese invested.

Apart from
economic linkage, they have common geo-political
interests.For instance, in July this year,
Cambodia as host of an ASEAN summit decisively
refused to discuss the South China Sea, where
China's claims are disputed by ASEAN members
Vietnam and the Philippines among others, as a
common issue for the organization.

Especially in view of Washington's recent
"return to Asia" strategic shift, Phnom Penh's
support is very valuable for Beijing. As
Washington uses territorial disputes in the South
China Sea to alienate China's diplomatic relations
with its neighbors, the "No" answer by Cambodia
can to some degree affect US tactics toward China
and help China and concerned countries in this
region to deal with their bilateral problems
without external interference.

For
Cambodia, on the other hand, China is not only the
faithful political and military supporter of its
independence from France in 1950s and Vietnam in
the 1970s and 1980s, but also the very important
economic support and partner in the 21st century,
since modern economic construction is now the most
important task for today's Cambodia.

In a
word, Cambodia is a good matchmaker of China's
relations with ASEAN and China is an important
economic partners and long-term supporter of its
independence.

Thus considering history as
well as the present reality of good relations
between these two countries, it is not surprising
that Sihanouk was given such great honor by
Beijing.

Nevertheless, with the passage of
this legendary man and the era of Pol Pot's Khmer
Rouge receding into the past, China's relations
with this small country will go to a new stage -
basically based on mutual-interest but not on
"old-buddies" or personal friendship.

In
this sense, Sihanouk's passing also marks the end
of the era of China's "old buddy" diplomacy. The
Middle Kingdom is no longer an isolated communist
country that had to largely depend on certain
friends or sympathizers of Chinese leaders to
extend its foreign relations.

Since 2003,
the term "old buddy of the Chinese people" has
appeared less and less often in the People's
Daily, from around 50 times a year to around 20
times a year today. It indicates that China's
diplomacy has gradually changed from a pre-modern
approach to a modern one.

Beijing is still
developing its skills in dealing with other
countries based on international conventions. As a
result it sometimes runs into conflict with
others, and certainly it will not totally abandon
"friendship" and become solely concerned with
interests in developing foreign relations.

Although Confucius' motto on this issue is
somehow obsolete, Beijing will strive to find a
new way to balance interests and morality in its
foreign relations, including with Cambodia and
other neighbors.

Dr Jian Junbo
is an assistant professor of the Institute of
International Studies at Fudan University,
Shanghai, China.